HONEY BEE BIOLOGY/ECOLOGY Terry Ryan Kane DVM, MS A2 Bee Vet Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Honey Bees Are the Most Compli

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

HONEY BEE BIOLOGY/ECOLOGY Terry Ryan Kane DVM, MS A2 Bee Vet Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Honey Bees Are the Most Compli HONEY BEE BIOLOGY/ECOLOGY Terry Ryan Kane DVM, MS A2 Bee Vet Ann Arbor, MI 48103 www.a2beevet.com Honey bees are the most complicated social insect having co-evolved with angiosperms (flowering plants) over the last 100M years. They are found in every continent where there are flowers. Flowering plants attract pollinators with their floral arrangements, odor, nectar and pollen. Some plants and pollinators are so interdependent that their flower parts and mouth parts fit each other such that some pollinators have flower fidelity. Some, like honey bees, are generalists and will feed on multiple types of flower food. One of the most unique and wondrous behaviors of honey bees, the “waggle dance”, the way the foragers communicate food resource information, was described by Karl Von Frisch in his book “The Dance Language and Orientation of Bees”. Published in 1965 it was the culmination of 50 years of research and earned him the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1973 for Animal Behavior (he shared the Nobel with two other pioneers in animal behavior, Nicolaas Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz). Bee communication is one of the most interesting things about them. Remember they are in the dark. Like cave animals they rely on smell, touch, and vibration in the hive. They also produce a myriad of pheromones that modulate behavior. There are 25,000 species of bees in the world, 5000 species of native bees, and 46 species of bumble bees in the U.S. The western honey bee, Apis mellifera, is an introduced species to North America. Hives were brought here by colonists and missionaries in the 1700s. By the 1800s they were found as far west as California and by the early 1920s as far north as Alaska. Bees are the most important pollinators of flowers, over 80% of plant species and hundreds of our fruit, nut, and vegetable crops need insect pollination. They are a key component of our agriculture ecosystems. In Michigan, pollination is a $1B industry. Not only do honey bees and native bees provide pollination but they provide food for our birds, many mammals and predatory insects. The ground dwelling native bees contribute to soil structure and cycle soil nutrients. On top of that, all the fruits, nuts and vegetables that result from insect pollination provide the proteins, vitamins and minerals so important to health for thousands of other animals, including us. No wonder bees have been dubbed the world’s most important animals! Most native bees are ground dwellers and - Do not live in colonies or have a queen - Generally non-aggressive and don’t sting - Do not produce honey or wax - Do not have pollen baskets - Often nest close together - Nest in a variety of places, underground, hollows, brush piles, logs - In the Spring, males emerge first and feed - Females then emerge, mate and find a nest site - Males die after mating - Male eggs are laid in the front, female eggs in the back - Provide larvae with pollen/nectar - Larvae develop, pupate, emerge the following Spring Native bees are important pollinators as well, but it is the honey bee that is our #1 managed pollinator because they can be housed and moved. Honey bees have a unique history with humans going as far back as 15,000 years ago. The Egyptians were the first ‘commercial’ beekeepers They are the only insect that provides food products that we consume (propolis, pollen, wax, comb, honey) and are now classified as food animals under the new FDA guidelines. We do not treat individual bees, rather this is a herd health practice. The colony is considered a ‘superorganism’, and it is the colony itself that is the patient. The honey bees’ natural hive are tree holes. They require @18L volume with a small entrance. There has been an evolution of hive designs and the most common is the Langstroth hive. Invented by Lorenzo Langstroth, a Philadelphia minister, he patented this new design in 1851 and we still use it today. It was unique because for the first-time honey could be collected without destroying the hive. His design was like a filing cabinet, vertical frames that the bees could draw out comb on, that could be examined, and replaced. Rev. Langstroth coined the term “bee space”, the space between these frames that bees could move around on. There are many hive designs, but this remains the most common. There are 3 caste members in each colony: 1. First and foremost is the worker bee, a sterile, diploid female. She has a stinger. Honey bees can only sting once and they die, unlike yellow jackets that can sting multiple times. The worker bees (12-15mm) are the engine of the hive and have multiple jobs throughout their developmental life span. One of their jobs is thermoregulation, keeping the hive cool in the summer and warm in the winter at @ 90-980 F year around. As they age, their jobs change from ‘house’ bees to foragers, living 4-6 weeks once they fly outside the hive. In the fall, winter bees are produced by the hive. These workers have more fat stores to survive the months of winter. 2. The male bee is called a drone. He is larger than a worker and has very large eyes. He does not have a stinger. His only function is to mate with a virgin Queen and then he dies. The drones comprise only @ 5% of the hive population. Most of the drones are kicked out of the hive when winter approaches. 3. The Queen is the largest bee, she is the mother of the colony. She does have a small stinger. A few days after she emerges as an adult and her wings are dry, the virgin Queen goes on a mating flight and mates with a dozen or so drones over a period of 1-2 days. The virgin queen flies away from her home hive, high up in the air (which is why drones need big eyes) at the ‘drone congregation site’. She can store up to 5-7M spermatozoa over her lifetime and lay 1000-2000 eggs/day. She is always surrounded by a retinue of attendant worker bees that feed her and clean her. She only leaves the hive that one time to mate and again to swarm. Although queens can live 2-5 years, most beekeepers replace their Queens every 1-2 years for maximum fertility. If the Queen lays a fertilized egg it develops into a worker bee (female). If the Queen lays an unfertilized egg it becomes a drone. Each egg develops in 3 days. There are 5 larval instars, then the last instar is capped and develops into a pupa. The different castes have different developmental periods. A Queen is fed only royal jelly and emerges after 16 days, a worker after 21 days and a drone after 23-24 days. These numbers are important to breeders and management strategies. identical to Worker bees Nutrition determines polymorphism • The Larvae that develop into Queens or Workers are genetically identical • Royal Jelly diet results in Queen development • Honey and bee bread diet results in workers and drones • Worker bees are sterile diploid females • Drones are haploid males • Behavior (phenotype) influenced by nutrition • Pheromone development dependent on nutrition • mRNA in flowers also affects development Worker bee sub castes after days of emergence: 1-2 days Cleaning the cells, attending the queen 3-5 days Caring for brood, feeding larvae beebread and capping cells 6-11 days Feeding young larvae royal jelly if designated to be queens 12-17 days Producing was for building cells, transporting food within the hive 18-21 days Guard bees at the entrance and ventilate the hive 22-45 days Foragers Honey bees do not hibernate in the winter. In the fall, the colony produces “winter bees”. Unlike the summer foragers that may live 1-6 weeks depending on weather, predation by birds, disease, the winter bees have large fat body stores that allow them to live through the winter months. Inside the hive the bees work to keep the colony warm, the Queen attended and use the stores of honey and pollen for energy. In the early spring, the queen starts laying again, new honey bees emerge and the population grows rapidly. Natural reproduction of the colony takes place in spring through swarming. The “old” queen leaves the hive with part of the workers while scouts look for a new home. Beekeepers love to catch these spring swarms, “free bees”! This last year we saw swarming late into the summer. Royal Jelly diet results in References/Suggested Reading The Dance Language and Orientation of Bees. Karl von Frisch. Translated from the German edition (Berlin, 1965) by Leigh E. Chadwick. Belknap Press (Harvard University Press), Cambridge, Mass., 1967. xiv + 566 pp., illus. Honey Bee Veterinary Medicine: Apis mellifera L. by Nicolas Vidal-Naquet (2015) Honey Bee Democracy by Thomas D. Seeley The Lives of Bees, The Untold Story of Honey Bees in the Wild, by Thomas D. Seeley The Bee, A Natural History by Noah Wilson-Rich Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America’s Bees, by Joseph S. Willson, Olivia J. Messinger Carril Beekeeping for Dummies by Howland Blackiston The Bee Book by Emma Sarah Tennant .
Recommended publications
  • Honey Bee Immunity — Pesticides — Pests and Diseases
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Distance Master of Science in Entomology Projects Entomology, Department of 2017 A GUIDEBOOK ON HONEY BEE HEALTH: Honey Bee Immunity — Pesticides — Pests and Diseases Joey Caputo Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/entodistmasters Part of the Entomology Commons This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Entomology, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Distance Master of Science in Entomology Projects by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Photo by David Cappaert, Bugwood.org 1 A GUIDEBOOK ON HONEY BEE HEALTH Honey Bee Immunity — Pesticides— Pests and Diseases By Joey Caputo A graduate degree project submitted as partial fulfillment of the Option III requirements for the de- gree of Masters of Science in Entomology at the graduate school of the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, 2017. Last updated April 2017 — Version 1.2 i Contents Introduction 1 Honey Bee Immune System 2 Mechanical and Biochemical Immunity 2 Innate and Cell-Mediated Immunity 2 Humoral Immunity 2 Social Immunity 3 Detoxification Complexes 5 Problems in Beekeeping 5 Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) 5 Bacterial, Fungal and Microsporidian Diseases 6 American foulbrood 6 European foulbrood 7 Nosemosis 8 Chalkbrood 10 Crithidia 10 Stonebrood 11 Varroa Mite and Viruses 11 Varroa Biology and Life Cycle 12 Varroa Mite Damage and Parasitic Mite
    [Show full text]
  • Minimizing Honey Bee Exposure to Pesticides1 J
    ENY-162 Minimizing Honey Bee Exposure to Pesticides1 J. D. Ellis, J. Klopchin, E. Buss, L. Diepenbrock, F. M. Fishel, W. H. Kern, C. Mannion, E. McAvoy, L. S. Osborne, M. Rogers, M. Sanford, H. Smith, B. S. Stanford, P. Stansly, L. Stelinski, S. Webb, and A. Vu2 Introduction state, and international partners to identify ways to reduce pesticide exposure to beneficial pollinators, while including Growers and pesticide applicators have a number of options appropriate label restrictions to safeguard pollinators, the when faced with a pest problem: do nothing, or apply environment, and humans. More information can be found some type of cultural, chemical, biological, or physical here: epa.gov/pollinator-protection. The bottom line is that method to mitigate the damage. The action to be taken the label is the law—it must be followed. should be chosen after weighing the risks and benefits of all available options. There are many situations where pest control is necessary and chemical controls must be Pollinator Importance used. Certain chemistries of insecticides, fungicides, and The western honey bee (Apis mellifera, Figure 1) is conceiv- herbicides are known to have negative and long-term ably the most important pollinator in Florida and American impacts on bees, other pollinators, and other beneficial agricultural landscapes (Calderone 2012). Over 50 major arthropods. Fortunately, there are pesticides that have crops in the United States and at least 13 in Florida either minimal impacts on pollinators and beneficial organisms. depend on honey bees for pollination or produce more The pollinator-protection language that is required to be yield when honey bees are plentiful (Delaplane and on US pesticide labels outlines how best to minimize these Mayer 2000).
    [Show full text]
  • Save the Bees Save the Bees
    Unit for week 5 save the bees Save the bees Stresses on the Honey bee Several factors may create stress in the hive, which can cause a decrease in population. Below are some of those possible contributors. All of these effects on the colony can be observed, some more easily than others, in the Observation Hive. VARROA MITES: The Varroa mite is a parasitic, invasive species that was introduced to the United States in the 1980’s . It BEYOND THE originated in Asia and the western honey bee has no resistance. The mated adult female Varroa mites enter the brood cells right before HIVE the bees cap the pupae and feed on the growing bee. The bee will hatch with deformities such as misshapen wings that result in an inability to fly. SMALL HIVE BEETLES: Hive beetles are pests to honey bees. Ask the Audience They entered the United States in the late 90’s. Most strong hives will not be severely affected by the beetle; however, if the hive • Do you know what it feels like beetle becomes too overbearing, the colony will desert the hive. The to be stressed? beetle tunnels in the comb and creates destruction in the storage of honey and pollen. Ways to identify a beetle problem is a smell of • Do you have any pests in your fermented honey, a slimy covering of the comb, and the presence life? of beetle maggots. • Do you have a vegetable DISEASE: although bees keep their hive very clean and try to garden or any flowers in your maintain sanitation as best as possible, there are many pathogens, yard? disease causing microorganisms, which can infect the bees.
    [Show full text]
  • The Effects of Royal Jelly on Performance and Fatty Acid Profiles of Different Tissues in Quail (Coturnix Coturnix Japonica) Reared Under High Stocking Density
    Turkish Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Turk J Vet Anim Sci (2014) 38: 271-277 http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/veterinary/ © TÜBİTAK Research Article doi:10.3906/vet-1303-62 The effects of royal jelly on performance and fatty acid profiles of different tissues in quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) reared under high stocking density 1 2 3 4, 4 3 İsmail SEVEN , Ülkü Gülcihan ŞİMŞEK , Zehra GÖKÇE , Pınar TATLI SEVEN *, Aslıhan ARSLAN , Ökkeş YILMAZ 1 Vocational School of Sivrice, Fırat University, Elazığ, Turkey 2 Department of Zootechnics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Fırat University, Elazığ, Turkey 3 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Fırat University, Elazığ, Turkey 4 Department of Animal Nutrition and Nutritional Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Fırat University, Elazığ, Turkey Received: 27.03.2013 Accepted: 07.10.2013 Published Online: 21.04.2014 Printed: 20.05.2014 Abstract: To study the effects of royal jelly (RJ) on performance and fatty acid profiles, 168 unsexed 8-day-old quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were assigned to 4 treatment groups. Groups were arranged as follows: control (LSD; 160 cm2/quail and no supplementation), high stocking density (HSD; 80 cm2/quail and no supplementation), HSD-RJ 250 [80 cm2/quail and 250 mg/kg body weight (BW) RJ given orally], and HSD-RJ 500 (80 cm2/quail and 500 mg/kg BW RJ given orally). Body weight gain decreased significantly in the HSD group at day 42 (P < 0.01). Feed intake (FI) and feed conversion rate (FCR) were also significantly affected in the HSD group (P < 0.01). FI and FCR were improved by both doses of RJ.
    [Show full text]
  • Feared Than Revered: Insects and Their Impact on Human Societies (With Some Specific Data on the Importance of Entomophagy in a Laotian Setting)
    ZOBODAT - www.zobodat.at Zoologisch-Botanische Datenbank/Zoological-Botanical Database Digitale Literatur/Digital Literature Zeitschrift/Journal: Entomologie heute Jahr/Year: 2008 Band/Volume: 20 Autor(en)/Author(s): Meyer-Rochow Victor Benno, Nonaka Kenichi, Boulidam Somkhit Artikel/Article: More Feared than Revered: Insects and their Impact on Human Societies (with some Specific Data on the Importance of Entomophagy in a Laotian Setting). Mehr verabscheut als geschätzt: Insekten und ihr Einfluss auf die menschliche Gesellschaft (mit spezifischen Daten zur Rolle der Entomophagie in einem Teil von Laos) 3-25 Insects and their Impact on Human Societies 3 Entomologie heute 20 (2008): 3-25 More Feared than Revered: Insects and their Impact on Human Societies (with some Specific Data on the Importance of Entomophagy in a Laotian Setting) Mehr verabscheut als geschätzt: Insekten und ihr Einfluss auf die menschliche Gesellschaft (mit spezifischen Daten zur Rolle der Entomophagie in einem Teil von Laos) VICTOR BENNO MEYER-ROCHOW, KENICHI NONAKA & SOMKHIT BOULIDAM Summary: The general public does not hold insects in high regard and sees them mainly as a nuisance and transmitters of disease. Yet, the services insects render to us humans as pollinators, entomophages, producers of honey, wax, silk, shellac, dyes, etc. have been estimated to be worth 20 billion dollars annually to the USA alone. The role holy scarabs played to ancient Egyptians is legendary, but other religions, too, appreciated insects: the Bible mentions honey 55 times. Insects as ornaments and decoration have been common throughout the ages and nowadays adorn stamps, postcards, T-shirts, and even the human skin as tattoos.
    [Show full text]
  • The Buzz About Bees: Honey Bee Biology and Behavior
    4-H Honey Bee Leaders Guide Book I The Buzz About Bees: 18 U.S.C. 707 Honey Bee Biology and Behavior Publication 380-071 2009 To the 4-H Leader: The honey bee project (Books Grade 5 1 - 4) is intended to teach young people the basic biology and behavior of honey bees in addition to Living Systems 5.5 hands-on beekeeping management skills. The honey The student will investigate and understand that bee project books begin with basic honey bee and organisms are made up of cells and have distin- insect information (junior level) and advance to guishing characteristics. Key concepts include: instruction on how to rear honey bee colonies and • vertebrates and invertebrates extract honey (senior level). These project books are intended to provide in-depth information related Grade 6 to honey bee management, yet they are written for the amateur beekeeper, who may or may not have Life Science 5 previous experience in rearing honey bees. The student will investigate and understand how organisms can be classified. Key concepts include: Caution: • characteristics of the species If anyone in your club is known to have severe Life Science 8 allergic reactions to bee stings, they should not The student will investigate and understand that participate in this project. interactions exist among members of a population. The honey bee project meets the following Vir- Key concepts include: ginia State Standards of Learning (SOLs) for the • competition, cooperation, social hierarchy, and fourth, fifth, and sixth grades: territorial imperative Grade 4 Acknowledgments Authors: Life Processes 4.4 Dini M.
    [Show full text]
  • Wisconsin Bee Identification Guide
    WisconsinWisconsin BeeBee IdentificationIdentification GuideGuide Developed by Patrick Liesch, Christy Stewart, and Christine Wen Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) The honey bee is perhaps our best-known pollinator. Honey bees are not native to North America and were brought over with early settlers. Honey bees are mid-sized bees (~ ½ inch long) and have brownish bodies with bands of pale hairs on the abdomen. Honey bees are unique with their social behavior, living together year-round as a colony consisting of thousands of individuals. Honey bees forage on a wide variety of plants and their colonies can be useful in agricultural settings for their pollination services. Honey bees are our only bee that produces honey, which they use as a food source for the colony during the winter months. In many cases, the honey bees you encounter may be from a local beekeeper’s hive. Occasionally, wild honey bee colonies can become established in cavities in hollow trees and similar settings. Photo by Christy Stewart Bumble bees (Bombus sp.) Bumble bees are some of our most recognizable bees. They are amongst our largest bees and can be close to 1 inch long, although many species are between ½ inch and ¾ inch long. There are ~20 species of bumble bees in Wisconsin and most have a robust, fuzzy appearance. Bumble bees tend to be very hairy and have black bodies with patches of yellow or orange depending on the species. Bumble bees are a type of social bee Bombus rufocinctus and live in small colonies consisting of dozens to a few hundred workers. Photo by Christy Stewart Their nests tend to be constructed in preexisting underground cavities, such as former chipmunk or rabbit burrows.
    [Show full text]
  • Phylum Arthropod Silvia Rondon, and Mary Corp, OSU Extension Entomologist and Agronomist, Respectively Hermiston Research and Extension Center, Hermiston, Oregon
    Phylum Arthropod Silvia Rondon, and Mary Corp, OSU Extension Entomologist and Agronomist, respectively Hermiston Research and Extension Center, Hermiston, Oregon Member of the Phyllum Arthropoda can be found in the seas, in fresh water, on land, or even flying freely; a group with amazing differences of structure, and so abundant that all the other animals taken together are less than 1/6 as many as the arthropods. Well-known members of this group are the Kingdom lobsters, crayfish and crabs; scorpions, spiders, mites, ticks, Phylum Phylum Phylum Class the centipedes and millipedes; and last, but not least, the Order most abundant of all, the insects. Family Genus The Phylum Arthropods consist of the following Species classes: arachnids, chilopods, diplopods, crustaceans and hexapods (insects). All arthropods possess: • Exoskeleton. A hard protective covering around the outside of the body (divided by sutures into plates called sclerites). An insect's exoskeleton (integument) serves as a protective covering over the body, but also as a surface for muscle attachment, a water-tight barrier against desiccation, and a sensory interface with the environment. It is a multi-layered structure with four functional regions: epicuticle (top layer), procuticle, epidermis, and basement membrane. • Segmented body • Jointed limbs and jointed mouthparts that allow extensive specialization • Bilateral symmetry, whereby a central line can divide the body Insect molting or removing its into two identical halves, left and right exoesqueleton • Ventral nerve
    [Show full text]
  • Management of Insect Sting Hypersensitivity: an Update Robert D
    Review Allergy Asthma Immunol Res. 2013 May;5(3):129-137. http://dx.doi.org/10.4168/aair.2013.5.3.129 pISSN 2092-7355 • eISSN 2092-7363 Management of Insect Sting Hypersensitivity: An Update Robert D. Pesek,1* Richard F. Lockey2 1Division of Allergy and Immunology, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Little Rock, AR, USA 2Division of Allergy and Immunology, University of South Florida and the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Reactions to Hymenoptera insect stings are common. While most are self-limited, some induce systemic allergic reactions or anaphylaxis. Prompt recognition, diagnosis, and treatment of these reactions are important for improving quality-of-life and reducing the risk of future sting reactions. This review summarizes the current recommendations to diagnose and treat Hymenoptera sting induced allergic reactions and highlights considerations for various populations throughout the world. Key Words: Hymenoptera allergy; venom immunotherapy; sting-induced anaphylaxis; insect sting allergy; insect sting hypersensitivity INTRODUCTION (Polistes); family Apidea (bees); and family Formicidae (ants) (Figure).3 Proper recognition of the insect responsible for the Allergic reactions triggered by Hymenoptera insects have
    [Show full text]
  • Biological Pest Control
    ■ ,VVXHG LQ IXUWKHUDQFH RI WKH &RRSHUDWLYH ([WHQVLRQ :RUN$FWV RI 0D\ DQG -XQH LQ FRRSHUDWLRQ ZLWK WKH 8QLWHG 6WDWHV 'HSDUWPHQWRI$JULFXOWXUH 'LUHFWRU&RRSHUDWLYH([WHQVLRQ8QLYHUVLW\RI0LVVRXUL&ROXPELD02 ■DQHTXDORSSRUWXQLW\$'$LQVWLWXWLRQ■■H[WHQVLRQPLVVRXULHGX AGRICULTURE Biological Pest Control ntegrated pest management (IPM) involves the use of a combination of strategies to reduce pest populations Steps for conserving beneficial insects Isafely and economically. This guide describes various • Recognize beneficial insects. agents of biological pest control. These strategies include judicious use of pesticides and cultural practices, such as • Minimize insecticide applications. crop rotation, tillage, timing of planting or harvesting, • Use selective (microbial) insecticides, or treat selectively. planting trap crops, sanitation, and use of natural enemies. • Maintain ground covers and crop residues. • Provide pollen and nectar sources or artificial foods. Natural vs. biological control Natural pest control results from living and nonliving Predators and parasites factors and has no human involvement. For example, weather and wind are nonliving factors that can contribute Predator insects actively hunt and feed on other insects, to natural control of an insect pest. Living factors could often preying on numerous species. Parasitic insects lay include a fungus or pathogen that naturally controls a pest. their eggs on or in the body of certain other insects, and Biological pest control does involve human action and the young feed on and often destroy their hosts. Not all is often achieved through the use of beneficial insects that predacious or parasitic insects are beneficial; some kill the are natural enemies of the pest. Biological control is not the natural enemies of pests instead of the pests themselves, so natural control of pests by their natural enemies; host plant be sure to properly identify an insect as beneficial before resistance; or the judicious use of pesticides.
    [Show full text]
  • Honey Bees Identification, Biology, and Lifecycle Speaker: Donald Joslin  Hive Consists of Three Types of Bees ◦ Queen, Drone and Worker
    Honey Bees Identification, Biology, and Lifecycle Speaker: Donald Joslin Hive consists of three types of bees ◦ Queen, Drone and Worker For Year Color: Ending In: White 1 or 6 Yellow 2 or 7 Red 3 or 8 Green 4 or 9 Blue 5 or 0 Queen Marking Colors Queen Only Fertile female in the Hive Can lay 2000 eggs each day She can live 5 years, 3-years average One per colony usually Mates in flight with 7-150 drones Queen Her thorax is slightly larger No pollen baskets or wax glands Stinger is smoother and curved (and reusable) The Honey Bee Colony Queen Pheromones ◦ The “social glue” of the hive ◦ Gives the colony its identity and temperament ◦ Sends signals to the workers Mates once, in flight, with 7 to 150 drones Lays both fertilized and unfertilized eggs Fertilized eggs become workers or Queens Unfertilized eggs become drones How does an egg become a queen instead of a worker? ◦ Royal Jelly is fed to the larvae for a much longer period of time ◦ Royal Jelly is secreted from the hypopharynx of worker bees Royal Jelly Supercedure Cell (Never cut these unless you have a replacement queen ready) Basic Anatomy Worker ◦ Sterile female ◦ Does the work of the hive ◦ Have specialized body structures Brood food glands – royal jelly Scent glands (pheromones) Wax glands Pollen baskets Barbed stingers – Ouch! The Honey Bee Colony Worker Bees Perform Roles ◦ Nurse ◦ Guard ◦ Forager Castes Worker bees progress through very defined growth stages ◦ When first hatched they become Nurse Bees Clean cells, keeps brood warm, feed larvae Receive
    [Show full text]
  • Instruction Sheet: Bee Sting, Local Reaction
    University of North Carolina Wilmington Abrons Student Health Center INSTRUCTION SHEET: BEE STING, LOCAL REACTION The Student Health Provider has diagnosed a mild allergic reaction to a bee/wasp sting. Fortunately, most bee stings are not serious and cause only temporary swelling, redness, and pain at the sting site. Rarely, a whole-body allergic reaction occurs; shock can result. The stinger, if still in the wound, should be removed; if the stinger is left in place, bee toxin continues to enter the body, increasing the reaction. A stinger should be removed with a piece of paper or credit card, using a sideways scraping motion. A pair of tweezers can also be used to remove the stinger, but try not to squeeze the stinger, or more toxin can be pushed inside the wound. Realize that swelling may increase at first, even with treatment. Measures can be taken, however, to minimize the reaction to bee stings. MEASURES YOU SHOULD TAKE TO HELP TREAT YOUR BEE STING: 1. Rest and elevate the affected body part. Rest and elevation help reduce swelling and pain. 2. Apply cold packs to the area off-and-on for the first 24 hours after injury. Cold helps ease discomfort, and minimizes additional swelling. Do not apply ice directly to the area, causing discomfort. Rather, aim for coolness, yet comfort, applying a layer or two of cloth between the cold pack and affected area. 3. Take over-the-counter antihistamines: In the morning, take a non-sedating antihistamine such as loratadine, 10 mg daily. At night, take diphenhydramine (Benadryl), 25 mg, 1 or 2 every 6 hours for itching and swelling.
    [Show full text]